Steroids Side Effects

Steroids Side Effects Effects of Steroids Side Effects of Steroids

Side Effects of Steroids

The side effects of steroids, sure, they exist, but if you’re like most people a lot of what you’ve been told is not only false but outright impossible. When the side effects of steroids are discussed, often they are discussed in a manner that strongly implies absolute certainty; in-short, if you supplement with anabolic steroids you are assured to fall prey. Further, not only are you assured to fall prey to the side effects, but numerous effects are listed that simply cannot happen. When it comes to anabolic androgenic steroid supplementation, the majority of the side effects can be avoided if you’re a healthy adult, and the ones that cannot be avoided can be controlled and combated in a way that makes them no concern at all. It all boils down to responsible use, and this means you are a healthy adult, you do not supplement with insane doses, and most importantly, you take the necessary precautions to ensure your safety. Absolutely, safe and successful supplementation is a possibility, but you must understand the side effects if you are to enjoy such safe and successful supplementation.

Beyond understanding the side effects of steroids, you must understand a few key elements that are a part of successful supplementation. First and foremost is being a healthy adult; adolescent steroid supplementation is by no means acceptable, and we’ll cover the possible effects of such use later on. Further, you must understand what being healthy means; it doesn’t simply mean you are not suffering from a life-threatening disease, but it means your blood pressure and cholesterol levels are healthy, your liver is in a good state of health as well as your prostate if you are a male. Further, you must be willing to accept we are all unique individuals, and this means some may not enjoy a positive response to certain steroidal hormones; such is the nature of life. Take for example NSAID painkillers; NSAID’s claim more than 16,000 lives in the U.S. each year alone, but this doesn’t mean most of us can’t use Aspirin. Further, such a concept can even be applied to food; most of us can consume dairy products, but some of us are lactose intolerant and the first dairy product will make us sick; we’re all unique on some level.

With all of this in mind, we want to take a look at the side effects of steroids as they apply to men, women and adolescents. We’ll discuss what can actually happen, what you can do to avoid it, and of course, what you can do to combat it should it occur. Through this discussion, you’ll finally have a good grasp on the truth, and as with all things in life, the truth is the only thing that will ever help you.

Males

For the man who supplements with anabolic androgenic steroids, there are numerous possible side effects, and a couple that are absolutely guaranteed. As for the guaranteed side effects of steroids, with proper and responsible supplementation, they are of no concern, and this will make sense as we go along. By-and-large, the side effects will revolve around aromatization, which refers to a conversion of testosterone into estrogen, large buildups of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), high, irresponsible doses, and to a degree progesterone. There will also be a concern regarding steroids that carry a hepatotoxic nature, as well as specific genetic predispositions. In any case, we have listed the eleven possible side effects of steroids at it applies to men; each side-effect is listed and discussed on the basis of cause and what you can do about it in-regards to avoiding or combating it.

• Acne:
  
  Cause - most commonly caused by the use of DHT based steroids in those who are already sensitive to acne – can be caused by large buildups in testosterone in those who are already sensitive to acne, but DHT steroids are the number one culprit
  
  Prevention - if you are truly sensitive, you may have to avoid DHT steroids – in-order to provide protection, you will need to take extra effort to keep your skin clean and dry at all times – avoid applying anything to your skin that might make it oily – always shower after becoming sweaty, and if you can’t at least change into a clean, dry shirt and shower as soon as you can.
   
• Gynecomastia:
  
  Cause - most commonly caused by steroids that aromatize, and as estrogen levels increase, the estrogen hormone binds to the receptor causing male-breast enlargement – can also be caused by progestin based steroids in men who are sensitive to the condition – anabolic steroids that carry a progestin nature as well as aromatize will obviously present a risk
  
  Prevention - the best protection is the use of an Aromatase Inhibitor such as Anastrozole (Arimidex) or Letrozole (Femara). AI’s will inhibit the aromatase process as well as decrease estrogen levels in the body; what does not exist cannot cause a problem – For protection against aromatizing steroids, some choose to use Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERM’s) such as Tamoxifen Citrate (Nolvadex); SERM’s function by binding to the receptor in the place of estrogen, but they do not reduce estrogen levels and are often not enough – SERM’s will not protect against progesterone based gynecomastia – AI’s will protect against gynecomastia produced by estrogen or progesterone.
   
• Hair-Loss
  
  Cause - most commonly caused by the use of DHT steroids, as DHT has the ability to deteriorate the hair follicles – can also be caused by testosterone based steroids if large amounts of DHT buildup through conversion, but it will normally take actual DHT steroids – can only occur in men who are predisposed to male-pattern baldness, meaning you were going to lose your hair to begin with, but your steroid supplementation may speed it up – men who are not predisposed to male-pattern baldness will not be at risk.
  
  Prevention - if you are predisposed to male-pattern baldness and concerned about your hair-line, avoiding DHT based steroids is probably the way to go – further, the use of the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Finasteride can offer a great deal of protection; however, as a potent androgen suppressor, which is the very reason it works caution is advised.
   
• High Blood Pressure
  
  Cause - this is an effect that is largely dose dependent; some steroids can increase the risk more than others, but dosing will play a massive role – aromatization can also play a role and so can a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure.
  
  Prevention - AI’s can help to a degree, but the biggest factors will be controlling your doses as well as living a healthy lifestyle. If you have a healthy blood pressure, continue to live in a way that promotes the continuation of a healthy reading; in-fact, you’ll probably want to give it a little extra attention – if problems still occur, try lowering the dose, but if the dose is already at a responsible level it may mean that particular steroid is not for you.
   
• High LDL Cholesterol:
  
  Cause - this is an effect that is largely dose dependent; some steroids can increase the risk more than others, but dosing will play a massive role – aromatization can also play a role and so can a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure.
  
  Prevention - AI’s can help to a degree, but the biggest factors will be controlling your doses as well as living a healthy lifestyle. If you have healthy cholesterol, continue to live in a way that promotes the continuation of a healthy reading; in-fact, you’ll probably want to give it a little extra attention – if problems still occur, try lowering the dose, but if the dose is already at a responsible level it may mean that particular steroid is not for you.
   
• Low HDL Cholesterol:
  
  Cause - dosing can play a role, but most steroids that are testosterone derived or carry a progestin nature will have a negative effect on HDL levels – even specific DHT steroids can have an effect, and as you can see, this pretty well means most anabolic steroids will have an effect
  
  Prevention - a clean and healthy diet is tremendously important – omega fatty acids have been shown to greatly help with HDL levels, and if there are plenty of them in your diet you should be fine; your levels may not be perfect, but they’ll be in the range that is sufficient during your steroidal supplementation.
   
• Liver Toxicity:
  Cause - there is one cause, and it is the use of C17-alpha alkylated (C17-aa) anabolic steroids – the C17-aa nature refers to the hormone being structurally altered at the 17^th carbon position in-order for it to survive the first pass through the liver – without this small structural change the liver would destroy most of the hormone before it could be utilized by the body – most all oral anabolic steroids carry this nature with the exception of oral Primobolan and Proviron – this is a trait rarely shared by injectable steroids, with Winstrol Depot being the exception – all C17-aa steroids carry a toxic nature; however, the hepatotoxic nature will vary greatly from one C17-aa steroid to the next
  
  Prevention - the easiest most efficient prevention is to choose steroids that do not include the C17-aa nature – with use, your liver enzyme values will increase, but if you supplement responsibly, avoid excess alcohol consumption and all over the counter medications when possible you will not do any damage to your liver – your values will increase, but they will return to normal shortly after supplementation is discontinued – avoiding all alcohol as it is stressful to the liver is your best bet; further, alcohol does nothing to promote performance to begin with, but rather works in the opposite direction – as for over the counter medications, many are just as if not more hepatotoxic in nature as anabolic steroids; use should be extremely limited.
   
• Prostate Enlargement:
  
  Cause - the cause is a large buildup of DHT – DHT steroids will be the primary cause, but other steroids can lead to such a condition if a large DHT conversion exist – if your prostate is already enlarged you must not supplement with anabolic steroids.
  
  Prevention - a healthy prostate along with responsible doses and responsible protocols on the total use of specific steroidal hormones will protect you – if problems due occur, this is where the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Finasteride can truly help you – six months of Finasteride therapy has been shown to significantly reduce prostate enlargement, and in many cases, to the point of returning the prostate back to its optimal nature.
   
• Testosterone Suppression:
  
  Cause - the cause is simple; you’re supplementing anabolic steroids, hormones that can all be linked back to testosterone, and when applied this signals to the body it no longer needs to make its own testosterone – as a result, if you’re not actually supplementing with testosterone, you will fall into a low testosterone condition – levels will be suppressed; suppression will vary from steroid to steroid, but most men will need to take action
  
  Prevention - supplement with exogenous testosterone and provide the body with what it needs; do so and you will not have a problem – it cannot be any simpler than that.
   
• Testicular Atrophy:
  
  Cause - due to testosterone suppression – testosterone is manufactured in the testicles and due to the suppressed production the testicles will atrophy – atrophy refers to a loss of fullness; they will not vanish into thin air.
  
  Prevention - There is no safe preventative manner – you could supplement with Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) through the duration of your cycle and keep your testicles full; however, this will only satisfy your ego and can actually be quite harmful – long term hCG use can easily and irreversibly damage your HPTA – hCG works by a mimicking effect, making the body think LH has been released, and it’s very easy for the body to become dependent on it – hCG use should be saved for post cycle needs, and never used for more than ten consecutive days – there is good news, once your cycle ends and all the exogenous steroids have cleared your system, your testicles will return to their normal size as natural testosterone production will not be back online – this is all assuming you did not suffer from low testosterone prior to supplementation and that you did not do something to severely damage your HPTA while on cycle.
   
• Water Retention:
  Cause - caused by aromatizing steroids and the result of excess estrogen
  
  Prevention - supplementing with an AI will be your first line of protection – controlling your diet is also important – if you overeat, especially carbohydrates, this is the best way to hold excess water – when you overeat and estrogen levels are higher than need be due to aromatase, you will hold even more water – in many cases, it’s not uncommon for an individual to hold water and blame the steroids, but in many cases, the problem is not the steroid but you – if you’re using an AI and controlling your diet, water retention should not be an issue – if you’re using an AI and you still hold water, once again, the issue is you and your inability to control your diet.

Females

Females are susceptible to the same side effects of steroids as listed above in men with a few exceptions. Obviously, no female has to worry about testicular atrophy or prostate enlargement, and testosterone suppression really isn’t an issue here. As for hair-loss, it is possible, but extremely rare as very few women are predisposed to such a condition; gynecomastia is also a non-issue. As for the rest, everything that was said about acne, high blood pressure, cholesterol issues, liver toxicity and water retention applies to females; however, females must also contend with virilization. Virilization refers to the promotion of masculine like effects, and as such can destroy a woman’s femininity; such effects include body-hair growth, a deepening of the vocal chords and clitoral enlargement.

When it comes to the side effects such as acne, keeping the skin clean is imperative, and as was with men, blood pressure, cholesterol and liver toxicity will be controlled though diet and dosing; dosing being very important in-regards to the liver. As for water retention, this shouldn’t be a concern for too many women if they do things right; let’s explain. In-order to avoid virilization, a female must choose steroids that carry a low virilizing nature or rating, and such steroids just so happen to be ones that do not promote water retention. Further, with proper dosing of steroids that do not carry a strong virilization nature, most women can supplement without incurring the first masculine like effect, but there are exceptions. Based on the individualistic nature of all human beings, some will fall prey despite proper supplementation; again, it’s not fair, but such is life. If this occurs, simply discontinue use at the onset of symptoms and they will fade away rather quickly. If this occurs and you still want to try supplementation, wait a few months and then try again with lower doses or another steroid; if it still occurs it may mean supplementation is not for you. As a side note, most women will find Oxandrolone (Anavar) to be the friendliest steroid for female use. Further, it must be stated; if virilization symptoms occur and they are ignored, they very well may become permanent, and that is a situation very few women will enjoy.

Adolescents

Adolescents are susceptible to all the side effects of steroids the same as men and women; however, in their case, it is much worse and truly dangerous. While it has not been officially proven, anabolic steroids have been shown to prematurely close growth plates in a developing child, and while it hasn’t been completely proven there is strong supporting evidence. Further, what we do no without question is that anabolic steroid use in adolescents is tremendously damaging to their developing androgen system, and such damage is often irreversible. This damage can lead to androgen production being inadequate for the rest of the individual’s life; further, it can have terrible effects once use is discontinued. A young, fragile body will not be able to handle a large influx of such hormones and then all of the sudden have them taken away; this is an excellent way to cause severe depression; not to mention a host of physical problems. In short, anabolic androgenic steroids should not be used by adolescents, and there’s simply no way around this truth.

Special Note

There are a few side effects of steroids that can occur that are largely of an unpredictable nature, but they can only be caused by a few anabolic steroids in most cases; most notably the Trenbolone hormone. Such side effects can be dosing related, but in many cases, they are simply caused by a poor response to the hormone; such effects include anxiety, insomnia, night sweats and rapid heart rate. Some may find other steroids to cause insomnia as well, but it is rare for most individuals to suffer from such conditions if supplementation is of a responsible nature; nevertheless, you must be aware.